Railroad tie



F. T. SPATH RAILROAD TIE -Filed Nov. 8, 192:4

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Patented Aug. 18, 1925.

f UNITED. STATES PATENT rationalen fr. sPA'rH, os Minivneroiars,ifirnnnsorn.

RAILROAD TIE.

Y Aeplicetiea led November Si 1924- ATo all z 0-[tom t may concern:

Eer it known that I, FREDERICK T. SPATH, a citizen of the United States,residing at Minneapolis, in the county of Hennepin and State of*Minnesota, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in RailroadTies; and l do hereby declare the followfof .material to give themairimum of strength and .eeienovl I t is an additional object in such atie to provide means thereon for preventing lateral and longitudinaldisplacement or -creeping land also prevent the roadbed between the ends,of ythe tie from washing out. I

It is an additional object to resiliently reinforce atieV et the PertQnSthere-QH t0 which lthe rails er@ SiC-.Ulti

To these ends, generally stated, .the invention consists voi the noveldeviees and combinations. of .dvis herein described and set forth in theclaims.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein likenotations refer to similar parts throughout the several views, and inwhich,

Fig. l is an elevation of the tie applied to the road bed;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the same, with some parts broken away; and

Fig. 8 is a cross section taken on the line SMB of Fig. l.

In the preferred form of the invention illustrated, an elongated bodymember is designated by the numeral 4, constructed of rolled steel ormalleable iron, of relatively thin cross section, having downwardly andinwardly curved end portions 5, of hook-shaped cross section. Thesehookshaped ends have aligned substantially rectangular slots in theopposite sides thereof, through which blade-shaped stakes 6 are adaptedto be passed or driven and further driven into the roadbed to firmlysecure the tie against creeping or lateral displacement, A plurality ofrugged clips Serial No. 748,561.

' are mounted on said body member 4 and secured thereto by headed bolts8 and adapted to engage .the flanges of rails 9, at opposite sidesthereof, to secure said rails to .the top ol body member 4. A pair ofU-shaped reinit'orcing members or chairs 10 are riveted or otherwisesecured to the bottom of body member 4, directly beneath the rails 9,.These U-shaped members are constructed oit, preferably, rolled steelhaving considerable degree of resiliency.

The ties are set in the roadbed with the body member 4 supported on thetop thereof and with the hook-shaped end portions 5 gripping the centralportion of the roadbed at either end .of the tie. In installing the tie,the roadbed is cut down to accommodate the depending portions thereof,including the hook shaped ends 5 and the U- Shaped members l0. The tieis then laid in proper position and said members packed with the sandor'dirt and the road bed then Athoroughly tamped .about .the ends andsides of said tie. The chairs l0 are also preferably ffilled with sandor roadbed material andthe stakes 6, are driven through the apertures inthe ends 5 into theroadbed. The clips f? are then clamped down againstthe flanges of the rails to firmly secure Athe same to the top of bodymember 4. The stakes G should be about two and one-haiic feet in length.

it will be seen from the above description that the hook-.shapedextremities 5,-be ing inwardly curved, will grip the central portion oithe roadbed therebetween and prevent the same from washing out duringrain, and also preventing any longitudinal slipping of the tie. Thechairs 10 reinforce the portions of the body member 4, which the railstraverse, and also assist to prevent longitudinal movement kof the tie,giving the desired elasticity to the rail and reinforcing the same wherethe greatest strain is imposed.

The blade-shaped stakes 6, rigidly held in proper position in the slotsformed in the hook-shaped ends 5, prevent lateral displacement orcreepingl of the tie. The hook-shaped ends 5, therefore, not only affordgripping claws or anchors but also permit the stakes 6 to be rigidlybraced, whereby it will be practically impossible for vibration frompassing trains to work the stakes loose.

In repairing the rails, the clips may be readily loosened by unscrewing`the nuts on bolts 8, and if it is desired to replace the bolts, thismay be readily effected by digging out the dirt in chair l() from theside of the rail, and `inserting a new bolt from the bottom of the bodymember 4f.

It Will be seen from the above description, that applicant has provideda rugged and highly efficient metallic railroad tie constructed on soundscientitic principles. Means are provided for preventing bothlongitudinal and lateral displacement of the tie, and also forpreventing the dirt or sand between the ends thereof from Washing away.rlhe material used is little and the entire tie may be manufactured atsmall cost.

lt will, of course, be understood that various changes may be made inthe form, details and arrangement of parts, Without departing from thescope of applicants invention.

TWhat is claimed is l. A railroad tie comprising an elongated bodymember having means thereon for securing rails thereto and having itseXtremities extended downwardly for some distance and in ardly toconstitute anchoring and supporting members for said tie, trie outersurfaces of said downwardly extending portion consituting theextremities of the tie.

A railroad tie comprising an elongated body member of relatively thincross-section having means thereon for securing rails thereto and havingdepending inwardly curved extremities constituting` anchoring` orsupporting members for said tie and adapted to grip the road bed andpresent smooth rounded ends at the top of said road.

3. A railroad tie comprising an elongated body member having meansthereon for securing rails thereto and having depending inwardlyextending anchoring members adjacent the ends thereof and memberscarried by said anchoring members adapted to eX- tend into the road bedsubstantially parallel with the longitudinal edges of said body memberto hold the tie against lateral displacement.

/L. A metallic railroad tie comprising an elongated body member havingmeans thereon for securing rails thereto and having end portions ofhook-shaped cross section provided with aligned apertures in theopposite sides of said hook-shaped ends, and stal-:es adapted to bedriven through said apertures into the roadbed to secure said tieagainst lateral displacement.

5. A metallic railroad tie comprising an elongated body member ofrelatively thin material having means thereon for securing rails theretoand terminating in hookshaped portions adapted to grip the roadbed andprevent longitudinal displacement of said tie, said hook-shaped membershaving aligned slots on the opposite sides thereof, and a pair ofblade-like stakes adapted to pass through said slots and be driven intosaid roadbed to hold the tie against lateral displacement.

6. n. metallic railroad tie comprising an elongated body member ofrelatively thin material having means thereon for securing railsthereto, U-shaped reinforcing members secured to said body memberbeneath said rail-securing means, and hook-shaped anchoring means on theextremities of said body member.

ln testimony whereof I affix my signature.

FREDERICK T. SPATH.

